Infant refugee at centre of Australian hospital protest gets reprieve

SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday a baby
girl facing repatriation to an offshore immigration detention
camp would go to an onshore facility instead, easing tension
that peaked in a blockade outside a hospital where she is a
patient.

Doctors at the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane
had refused to release the one-year-old girl after completion of
her treatment for serious burns, adding to pressure on the
government over its tough asylum seeker policy.

The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is
small in comparison with those arriving in Europe, but border
security is a hot-button political issue in Australia, which is
scheduled to hold a national election later in the year.

Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the infant,
known only as Baby Asha, would shortly be released into
community detention, which allows free movement, in Brisbane.

However, Dutton stressed that the family could still be
returned to a camp on the tiny South Pacific island of Nauru,
about 3,000 km (1,800 miles) northeast of Australia, if they
were not deemed to be genuine refugees.

Asha was flown last month from the Nauru centre, which
houses more than 500 people, to Brisbane for hospital treatment.
The facility has been widely criticised for harsh conditions and
reports of systemic child abuse.

"The advice I've received is that the doctors from the
hospital have said they would be happy for the baby to go out
into community detention," Dutton told reporters.

"But at some point, if people have (asylum claim) matters
finalised in Australia, then they will be returning to Nauru -
that's exactly the same treatment that we've applied equally."

The High Court this month rejected a legal test case that
challenged Australia's right to deport 267 refugee children and
their families who had been brought to Australia from Nauru for
medical treatment.

Hundreds of Australians held an overnight vigil at the
hospital, blocking exits and stopping cars in a bid to halt
Asha's removal.

The protest drew wide attention and support in Australia,
with the Twitter hashtag #BabyAsha trending worldwide.

Australia maintains a policy of sending asylum seekers who
attempt to reach the country by boat to camps on Nauru or on
Manus island in Papua New Guinea. They are not offered
resettlement in Australia.

The government says the policies are necessary to stop the
drowning of asylum seekers as people smugglers use unseaworthy
vessels to ship them from Indonesia to Australia.
(Reporting by Jane Wardell; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)